And stomp on all the bright things, gloating at its puissance. Gloating at its chance to ruin and break and soil, devalue and dishonor, as if by defiling that which is good, the brute will somehow be made elevated

In real life greedy man babies in expensive suits grab and snatch and steal

A prancing, poisonous jester gleefully spreading a toxic brew of hate and bigotry and fear

Because this attention-craving professional trickster and con man lives to be worshipped, lives for the hollow approval of cheering mobs thrusting their arms at skewed angles.

What do you when this darkness wins

When hatred wins

When it is loosed and encouraged and emboldened and inflamed

Drooling now, eager to attack, strutting about, engorged with validation, impatient to flaunt its power

What do you do

You grieve of course

Camelot invaded

…I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.*

And most of all, I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, young, old, gay, straight, men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance, under the same proud flag, to this big, bold country that we love.**